Opinion

When a person’s mind summons a millennial, social and political commentator in 2017, Tomi Lahren is probably one of the first names that comes to mind. Her brand of know-it-all conservatism has a pretty stable home on The Blaze, Glen Beck’s network. And her bit known around the world called “Final Thoughts” circulates newsfeeds on Facebook and Twitter daily with people either denouncing her, or agreeing. Today my comments will be addressing Lahren’s sentiments about an Iranian film director responding to the travel ban in the form of a political statement at the Oscars. So buckle up and “Feel free to disagree…” as Lahren herself often explains.

After the Oscars this past month, Lahren’s response to celebrities using the fact they have a wide audience to speak out against injustices like the travel ban put in place through an executive order by President Donald Trump was to be expected. She has a history of telling entertainers that they should “should stick to entertaining.” This tweet, “Foreign film translation: Iranian filmmakers don’t like the new POTUS because they’re used to former POTUS kissing their behinds” plus her “Final Thoughts” gave me agita.

This tweet from the night of the Oscars has a lot to unpack, let’s start here. Did former President Barack Obama personally bend over and kiss the behinds of all Iranians? I don’t think so. He treated them like people, unlike Lahren. The former president attempted to thaw icy relations with a nation. The United States’ relationship with Iran can be described as a great balancing in which the former president stepped with great care and tact. Let’s afford Asghar Farhadi the same justices, okay? He does not have to support every decision his government makes, so holding him responsible for the actions of the Iranian government as a whole is lunacy at best. Lahren spent the last eight years frazzled and made furious by the Obama administration.

It’s safe to assume that many of us have read a book and taken away some valuable life lessons. No different than the rest of the books we read, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is a book that produces some of these lessons. This is a poignant and staggering story about Liesel Meminger, a young girl living in Nazi Germany.

Life isn’t easy for her, nor is it easy for anyone during this time period, but Liesel and her foster family are put in danger when they begin to hide a Jewish man in their basement. This experience will expose Liesel to lessons she never knew before. These life lessons are applicable to MU students:

Accept Others’ Differences

When Liesel’s foster family take in Max, a Jewish man, they slowly get to know him. During this time Jews were demonized, but as Max opened up about his past Liesel learns that his differences didn’t make him a monster. Liesel learned to accept Max’s differences.

This is something every MU student knows because our campus is so diverse. No two people are the same and that shouldn’t be a problem; it makes life more interesting. Thanks to organizations, like the Gender Studies Club for example, at MU, which help promote these ideas and instill them into students, we have a rather accepting campus.

Stand Up for the Oppressed

In Nazi Germany, those who sympathized or helped the Jews could’ve been punished or killed. Liesel’s foster family takes in Max and risk their lives to help save his own. The Meminger’s stood up for what’s right just like those here at MU. Those who cannot or will not be heard in society need the help of those who can be heard.

In the last few years, acceptance of different gender identities and challenging of cisnormativity been seen across all media outlets. As more people are willing to share the details of their journey in finding their identity, they express themselves in various ways.

Whether it be through presentation online, creating artwork to express their struggles, or changing up their look, more people are experimenting with how others view them.

With large platforms utilizing their influence in order to represent marginalized people, people will feel more comfortable with their identity and feel accepted. Most notably, H&M, a fashion brand popular with both men and women, has introduced its campaign capitalizing on the importance of self-expression and wearing clothes that help illustrate one’s unique sense of style.

In turn, advertisements such as these celebrate the experimentation any person can have with the image they present to others around them, and create a safer environment for those that are typically the outliers.

By providing encouragement to step outside any preconceived notions on fashion, people can discover the flexibility of clothing regardless of the section to which it’s assigned.

Personally, I enjoy wearing flannels and sweaters from the men’s section of thrift shops because they flow nicely and add a distinctive silhouette to my ensemble, and draw focus to different areas of my outfit. Not having to limit yourself to certain patterns, styles or labels can allow for creativity in fashion and explore different parts of oneself.

Today with the internet, it’s not uncommon to hear about people’s obsessions with a variety of things. Normally, it’s users who are obsessed with Facebook, social media, or people who are into online gaming that get hooked on these obsessions. Recently, there’s been a new craze that’s been circling the internet.

April is a 15-year-old pregnant giraffe that’s pulled in over 100,000 viewers at a time. The craze started when Animal Adventure Park, located in New York, put a giraffe cam on April for viewers to watch the birth for an educational purpose.

Local zoos like this usually expect their typical viewers to tune in and a few from further away. With April, it was a different story. The zoo put her camera up and announced that they would be live streaming the birth of her calf. When the news got to the media, it spread with headlines about how the giraffe was in active labor and she would give birth at any minute. However, all of these claims are untrue according to the zoo.

Since 1986, the American Girl brand has been producing dolls that represent diverse backgrounds and populations. These figures have stories, sometimes books, and movies to demonstrate the historical period in which they reside. These dolls have been a staple in the discourse of American adolescent girls since they made their debut in the mid to late 1980’s.

Some of the popular dolls include Samantha a turn of the 20th century darling, Kit Kittredge charming a depression era dreamer, and Addy a sweet Civil War era girl. All of these girls have something in common: their keen sense of adventure. The brand gives off the perception of diversity, but is not immune to criticism from parents who ask for something more. Parents are seeking dolls with more and more relatable experiences. They want their children to be able to see themselves within their toys. This request is reasonable.

Although these girls come from all over, they seem to be marketed at cis-gendered, adolescent girls; this has not changed since the doll’s inception. No matter the child, dolls should be marketed to everyone. Toys shouldn’t be gendered or aimed at a certain group and I think the American Girl Company understands that since they are opening up to that request with a new addition.

Soon, the American Girls will be joined by a boy named Logan. Adding a boy has been a request of parents for quite a long time, according to a representative from the company. So Logan, the new American Boy, is the company’s first 18 inch male doll. He comes equipped with a winning personality, and the company says that 2017 is the perfect time for his debut.

As any college student knows, it is important to build up your résumé, so you can follow your dreams. Dedication is crucial to success. Many people have talent, skills, access to opportunities, good fortune, and connections, which are means to success. However, even if you possess two or three of these factors, if you are not dedicated to being the best version of yourself, you probably will not achieve continued success throughout your life.

Dedication is caring about something to an extreme extent. When you are dedicated, you give everything you have—all of your efforts—to a cause or to a task. This is an important trait to exemplify in the workplace in particular.

Setbacks occur, and if you are not dedicated, instead of stepping up, you will stay down and disappointed, which could lead you to quit. Job dedication allows you to be more likely to gain success, promotions, and the ability to work with difficult people. These life skills are beneficial for you to enjoy your job and be able to reach your highest potential. It is important for a company as well as co-workers to see eye-to-eye to ensure the highest success business wise and to create a positive work setting.

Job dedication teaches discipline, passion, and time management, which are vital to success. These ideas keep individuals focused on important issues and take your work seriously in order to make it the best it can be. In addition, some benefits you can receive through job dedication is respect, the ability to utilize your creativity, and flexibility.

These benefits allow you to be happier at your job and feel secure with your position knowing that you are valued. This, in turn, encourages employees to give 100 percent, because when you know your boss/company supports you, you go the extra mile. One of the benefits of having an intrinsic motivation is that you do your best because that is what you demand of yourself, even if those around you do not value or appreciate you.

Do We Deserve More Holidays Off?

Presidents' Day, officially called “Washington’s Birthday” by the federal government, is a celebration for all the past and current presidents of the United States. The holiday is celebrated every third Monday in Feb. and has been celebrated on this day for over 100 years.

Martin Luther King Jr. Day is a holiday celebrating the extraordinary actions of a civil rights activist who played a major role in the American civil rights movement in the 1950s and 1960s. The United States has recognized this holiday since 1986.

There’s Labor Day, Veterans Day, Independence Day, Memorial Day, and many more national holidays recognized by the federal government. Despite certain holidays being federally recognized, individual states and their respected educational institutions regulate whether the schools have classes or not.

This past Presidents’ Day Feb. 20, Monmouth University, a private institution, did not have the day off like many other schools. Every student’s dream is to have classes off every holiday and as many holidays as possible within the school year.

While a break from work or class is worthwhile, are we truly celebrating these great feats and influential people?

One of the most common reasons academic institutions still hold classes during some of these holidays is to make up for lost snow days. It is up to the private institution or the public school district to hold classes on a holiday.

The art of writing, whether it be poetry, stories, plays, or simply writing our thoughts down, has been the most dependable and influential form of recording history and remembering things that are important to us. The Diary of Anne Frank is probably the most notorious in history and greatly broadened our understanding of what was going on and how people were feeling during such a trying time in history.

Diary and journal writing does not only have to be for historical figures. Often times, in TV shows and movies, diary entries are used to narrate and tell the inner thoughts of a main character. A diary or journal is something that is very personal and is a way for people to just write out how they are feeling.

In the 2006 Disney Channel Original Movie Read It and Weep, we follow the story of a young high schooler that wrote down all of her personal thoughts and feelings on her high school experience in her journal. Later in the movie, the story in her journal becomes a best-selling novel and, although the story was very revealing and may have even hurt some people, we learn how important journals are to help us express the troubles we face with everyday life.

Writing in any form is an amazing way for us to express ourselves. I, personally, have a song lyrics journal where I write things down that may be helpful or may inspire me to write a song. The words and feelings in these lyrics express what I am going through and what I am thinking in a more creative way.

“Ugh, I cannot believe I have to submit this newspaper article by Sunday. Not to mention I have so much other work like the gym, an interview, going to my job and of course the…” That right there is horribly negative. But is there really a positive way of complaining?

Well that depends on your interpretation of complaining. There are those who build up stress and tension and hold it all in, just to not complain or speak negatively; but, in return they are holding negative thoughts inside which is just as unhealthy, if not unhealthier.

Complaining can be damaging to your health, relationships, and final decisions on events you have in your daily life. Nonetheless, like everything, a little bit of moderation can go a long way.

The way you phrase your words while complaining could be vital for your own health.

One can vent and instead of splurging negative words such as “I can’t,” “this is the worst,” “why am I always so unlucky,” you can say things such as, “this may be difficult, but I’ll do my best,” or “this is an unlucky situation but time will pass as will this.” We, as a society, must realize there is always somebody who has it worse, and there is always something worse that could happen.

But that does not mean you should not be irritated or frustrated; after all, it is human nature and human right. It isn’t so much about complaining, it is more about how you complain and to what extent.

Lately, because of the people like Tomi Lahren, an opinionated online video host, being a celebrity and using your platform to address a political belief or standpoint is a problem.

Being that celebrities are people, I feel like they are entitled to use their status to rally people around what they believe in. It is human and we all do it.

Of course, not as many people are listening to me as they are to say, Ashton Kutcher, but we are all entitled, nonetheless. Just because they have larger platforms than you and I does not make it wrong. Politics are for the people, for us, no matter who you are.

Celebrities and politics are synonymous and have been for quite a while. With all the complaining she does about keeping politics celebrity free, you could easily forget that Tomi Lahren herself comes from the party of Regan, movie star turned president and possibly the most famous example of celebrity turned political. But, as Lahren says, celebrities should just “perform” and keep their noses out of politics.

To quote her directly, Lahren says, “[In reference to Lady Gaga at the Super Bowl] she chose to just sing instead. What a concept? An entertainer just sticking to entertainment.” And currently, should I just forget the amount of times the 45th president spent on television? He is the first reality star turned president; I guess that is quite the accomplishment—emphasis on the “I guess.” I wonder what would have happened if former president Regan and current President Trump, stuck to entertaining.

Getting Involved Later in Your College Career

After wading around the involvement fair in the fall semester, clubs and extracurricular activities can seem daunting and completely out of reach for some. With that overwhelming feeling comes pushing activities to the side to a later date. Come spring semester, your schedule seems a little barren; you start to wonder: is it too late to get involved?

The simple answer to this is that no, it is never too late to get involved. It could be the end of your college career and it still wouldn’t be too late to get involved. Whether you want to join an intramural sport, Greek life, or a club on campus, organizations are always happy to welcome you with open arms.

From personal experience, waiting around to find my spot within the community was difficult and usually excused as “I’m just too busy,” or left to the unwillingness to make the commute back to campus. Come junior year, I can be found spending most of my time at Monmouth in The Outlook office, running to classes, and getting more involved every day with personal training and even a handful of other clubs.

If getting involved doesn’t seem like it would be your ‘thing,’ another alternative is to buddy up with a friend who is involved in different activities around campus. Being taken to events might make you more interested in getting more involved in them as well.

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